ZOREN: CBS3 reporter gives up job to see the world

"Nobody travels the world and says they've made a mistake," says former Channel 3 reporter Oren Liebermann as he waits for the moving truck that is taking his furniture to storage.

Liebermann has "former" status and was "T minus one hour" towards long-term storage because he and his wife, Cassie Kramer, made the decision to give their jobs - good ones, coveted ones - to take a year to backpack across the globe.

To date, most of Liebermann's trips abroad have been to Israel, where he lived for a few years in his youth and where he still has family. Observation of Judaism's High Holy Days, Liebermann and Kramer chose the day after Yom Kippur to begin their adventure. (I am only one among several who have asked if they can fit me in a backpack.)

Because Europe is the most expensive of the continents, Liebermann says he is going there first "while we have money." Rome is the initial stop. From there, Liebermann and Kramer will spend three months touring Europe, after which they head to Kenya, where Liebermann's sister lives, then to Israel, to touch home and visit some family, then on to Nepal, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and South America. The couple should return to the U.S. in time for next year's High Holy Days.

"This is the opportunity of a lifetime," Liebermann says. "I wanted to work overseas as a reporter, but that didn't work out. That didn't end my desire to see the world.

"About a year and a half ago, my wife and I began considering seriously if and how we could do this, quit our jobs and take a year to see the world.

"We didn't take a honeymoon, so we had some money we would have spent on that. As we talked, we realized we really wanted to make this journey. That's when the planning began. Once committed, we economized. We went out to dinner less and became careful about what we spent. We considered that $80 can buy you a reasonable dinner for two in Philadelphia. In Cambodia or Vietnam, that same $80 can feed you for a while."

By careful calculation, Liebermann and Kramer estimated it would take about $40,000 for them to realize their travel ambitions.

"We just agreed, 'Why not?' Cassie is a traveler who has been to many places. I have traveled but mostly to Israel again and again and to London. We wanted to experience of travel. We wanted to see the world and to know the world.

"From the travel I've done, I know the value of seeing other places and knowing other cultures. Travel makes you worldly. It makes you at home in other places. Everyone I know who travels has had marvelous experiences meeting people from all over the world. Cassie and I first got the idea of making this trip after meeting three guys from Australia.

"We were in Israel, and these guys were on holiday in Jerusalem. They'd been there for four days, and they hadn't seen any of the usual obligatory sights. None! They'd spent their time drinking and talking and figured they would get to sightseeing in their own good time. They were traveling to relax as much as anything else.

"My wife and I have more of an agenda, but these men from Australia were the inspiration. They gave us the idea that kept germinating until we're on the brink of leaving.

"Cassie and I showed the men Jerusalem. The weather was particularly hot, and Cassie got the hives. Hearing that, the men pulled a bunch of pharmaceuticals from their backpack. It turned out the guys were all doctors. They just decided to suspend their practices for a time and see the world.

"Australians do that. Europeans, especially the English, do that. Americans don't. My wife and I wanted to be like the Australians, free to travel for a year and then go back to our usual business. I've spent eight years as a reporter, and Cassie has built a career teaching English as a second language. She can find a job doing that anywhere in the world. I also believe I'll be able to get a job when we return. I'll have the experience from working and the experience from this trip. Also, you never know who you'll meet or what opportunities will arise from travel."

"I think my wife has the advantage on me there," Liebermann says. "We expect Spanish to be more useful."

Like contestants on "The Amazing Race," Liebermann and Kramer are taking one backpack each.

"We're traveling light like the 'Amazing Race' people, but we don't have to compete with anyone, solve puzzles, or eat larvae. The best part we won't be able to buy souvenirs because we'll have no place to pack them. That's good because by avoiding random purchases, we won't go broke as quickly," Liebermann says.

Liebermann and Kramer already have all their airline tickets.

"We bought the around-the-world deal from the Star Alliance. You have a maximum number of miles you can travel, but we had all we needed to make our trip.

"The fun is planning the itinerary. We spent days, perhaps even weeks, mapping everything out. You make one agenda, play with it a little, make another, then play with that. It goes on and on, but each possibility is enticing, and finally, you arrive at your itinerary."

Liebermann is excited about all the places he is set to visit. Asked if one stop stood out, he had to think, weighing his first view of the Coliseum with other destinations.

"Southwest China," he said after 10 seconds or so of consideration. "I have a friend who lives in Shanghai, and he keeps telling how beautiful that part of the country is. Google it. You see the Tiger Leap Gorge and Shangri-La and the lay of the mountains, and you see Southwest China is like no other place in the world.

"We're excited because that part of China is rarely visited by foreigners. Almost no one speaks English. We are going off the beaten path, and we love it. We had to include this as part of our journey."

Helping Chip for charity

The chance to serve as rookie Eagles coach Chip Kelly's assistant during a regular season practice is one of many alluring prizes fans and celebrity hounds can bid on during an 18-hour radiothon WIP (94.1 FM) is conducting to benefit Eagles Youth Charities.

The radiothon, set for 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Wednesday, also offers a visit to a Phillies game with Eagles quarterback Michael Vick as your companion, a trip to the Eagles-Packers game in Lambeau Field, Green Bay, on Nov. 10, two tickets to the Feb. 3 Super Bowl XLVII in New York, or a fishing trip to LBI with Todd Herremans and Lane Johnson.

For a complete list of available prizes, including tickets to the Sept. 19 game when Donovan McNabb's number is retired and former coach Andy Reid returns to Philadelphia as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, visit PhiladelphiaEagles.com/Radiothon. You can also pre-register for bidding on the Eagles web site.

The hosts whose shows will feature the auction are Angelo Cataldi and his team from 5:30 to 10 a.m., Michael Barkann and Ike Reese from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow from 1 to 6 p.m.

A MTM reunion on 'Hot'

Betty White and Georgia Engel are already on hand as regular cast members of TV Land's "Hot in Cleveland."

On Wednesday's program, an hour-long season finale, the "Mary Tyler Moore Show" alumna are joined by Mary herself. And Valerie Harper. And Cloris Leachman.

Yes, the gang is all there for a reunion of the "MTM" women.

Reunion is also the plot line. White and Engel's characters, Elka and Mamie Sue, decide they would like to see their teammates on The Gorgeous Ladies of Bowling , a team that won a championship then broke up with some acrimony. Moore, Harper, and Leachman play the other bowlers.

They are not "Hot in Cleveland's" only celebrity guests. George Hamilton and "Modern Family's" Jesse Tyler Ferguson are guest stars for other plot lines.

Harper's recent forays into television border on the amazing. The actress, who gained fame playing Rhoda Morgenstern on "MTM" and spinoff series, "Rhoda," was diagnosed in March with a rare cancer of the brain membrane. Her condition was deemed terminal, and Harper reported she was told she has three months to live.

Thank goodness that three months have passed with Harper yet among us. In addition to this episode of "Hot in Cleveland," she will appear in a feature movie, "The Town That Came A-Courtin'," due for release on Valentine's Day, Feb. 14, 2014, and is rumored to be one the dancers for the next season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars."